Strollers and carriages are used by caregivers to transport infants and young children from one place to another. Typically, carriages include flat mattress-like surfaces for supporting infants while strollers include chair-like seats for supporting toddlers. A stroller or carriage typically includes a frame having a push handle, wheels mounted on the frame, and a child-receiving mattress or seat mounted on the frame.
Strollers and carriages are well known in the art. See, for examples of strollers, Chinese Patent No. 93220881.9 to Yu; U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,523,567 to Grant; 3,871,701 to Gesslein; 4,733,882 to Kassai; 5,257,799 to Cone et al.; 4,544,178 to Al-Sheikh et al.; and 4,280,716 to Vonsbaek et al.
Grant (U.S. Pat. No. 2,523,567) describes a baby carriage including an inner swinging basket having means for transmitting movement of a crank which is movably connected to the rear wheel for swinging or rocking the basket. Yu (Chinese Patent No. 93220881.9) describes a baby carriage including a swinging seat driven by an electric motor.
In Chinese Utility Model Application 92215144.X, published Oct. 14, 1992, an arc-shaped or curved mounting is provided at the lower portion of the baby carriage frame to add a cradle function to the baby carriage. When the carriage is to be used as a cradle, the wheels are folded upward to make the arc-shaped or curved mounting land on the ground to rock the carriage. When the carriage is to be used as a hand-pushed baby carriage, the wheels are lowered and locked so that the curved mounting is in a suspended state. However, due to the presence of a pair of curved mountings, complicated manufacturing processes are involved in the making of this type of baby carriage with a cradle function, resulting in an increased manufacturing cost. Moreover, it is inconvenient to use this type of baby carriage because the changeover from a hand-pushed carriage to a rocking carriage requires raising or lowering the wheels.
There are many examples of child carriers and seats which can be folded from their use positions to their storage positions. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,257,799 to Cone et al.; 4,544,178 to Al-Sheikh et al.; and 4,280,716 to Vonsbaek et al.